COVID-19: INDIE PRODUCTION COMPANIES HAVE LOST£250M IN UK

The UK trade organization Pact released the results of a survey about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the indie sector and revealed that indie companies have lost over £250m in cancelled or postponed productions already, an average of £2.6m each.

21% of the 100 respondents also said that they either had no reserves or expected them to last for a maximum of two months. Whilst overall, 61% said that they expect reserves to last for a maximum of six months.

When asked about Research & Development, 58% of indies said that they would be scaling back on R&D, with half of those scaling back ‘significantly’.

Whilst these figures paint a bleak picture for indies, 61% said that they had current commissioning opportunities in the UK, and 29% had international commissioning opportunities.

Respondents were split on whether the Government is providing the right level of support, with 41% saying yes, and 41% no (and 18% saying they didn't know). On a scale of 1-10, indies thought that the Job Retention Scheme was a 6 in terms of how helpful it would be for their company, and the one-off £10k grant was given a 3.5 on the same scale.

Despite international revenues reaching an all time high last year, just 30% said that their non-UK revenues would help them through this crisis, with 37% of respondents having no non-UK revenues at all. Smaller indies in particular are less likely to have non-UK revenues.

Commenting on the survey, Pact CEO John McVay said: "The survey shows the worrying financial impact this crisis is having on our members and particularly smaller indies".

On the other hand, "It's encouraging that broadcasters are still commissioning, although it remains to be seen how their smaller budgets impact on revenues during the pandemic," completed.